Roger von Oech is an American speaker, conference organizer, author, and toy-maker whose focus has been on the study of creativity.
In 1975, von Oech earned his Ph.D. from Stanford University in the self-created interdisciplinary program "History of Ideas" Shortly afterwards, he began providing services in creativity consulting, working with companies such as Apple, IBM, Disney, Sony, and Intel.
In the 1980s, he created and produced the "Innovation in Industry" conference series in Palo Alto, which included Silicon Valley entrepreneurs such as Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Bob Metcalfe, Charles Schwab, Alan Kay, and Nolan Bushnell of Atari.
He has authored three books on creativity:
?A Whack on the Side of the Head: How You Can Be More Creative
?A Kick in the Side of the Pants: Using Your Explorer, Artist, Judge, and Warrior to Be More Creative
?Expect the Unexpected, or You Won't Find It: A Creativity Tool Based on the Ancient Wisdom of Heraclitus
In 1989, von Oech created the Creative Whack Pack, a deck of 64 cards with illustrations and strategies for stimulating creativity. It was designed to be a portable version of his creativity workshops, and it has sold over a million copies.
